Then There were two
by Raistlin99
Summary: What happens when the world is without the Avatar for too long? My own characters but team avatar will appear later in the story. This is my first story so tell me what you think


Ok this is my first story on here so please bear with me while I get used to the formatting and everything else on here. I want to make this story interesting so please review when you're done.

Disclaimer: Sadly, I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender.

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Chapter 1

I was always told that the Avatar would bring peace to the world. My mother would tell me stories of the Avatar's bending prowess. "He was a master of all the four elements," she would say. "The Fire Nation fears his awesome strength," she would say. I wondered long into my nights where the Avatar would be?

Our family lived in a small Earth kingdom village. My father was the leader of the village militia. He was a powerful firebender and a traitor to his nation. When I asked him why he left, he answered with, "I left for my love of your mother. Then when she was pregnant with you and your sister, my conviction was strengthened. The Fire Nation isn't a place I wanted my children to grow up."

My mother was an earthbender. She was in the militia as well. She kept our earth walls from falling down when the Fire Nation tried to take over our village. She also took care of all the wounded that came back from fighting the Fire Nation. Her fierce anger was a legend in our region, as many Fire Nation units that attacked us, never returned home.

My sister, Kia, was my twin. She was like my mother, an earthbender. Unlike my mother, she was kind and gentle to all. I wondered if she really had the will to be an earthbender. I love her though, and my father asked me to protect her at all costs. Everyday that I'm not in the fields, harvesting our crops, I'm learning to fight with the sword and firebend.

I am a firebender like my father. We train and spar so I can someday be a better firebender than him. He wants me to be a defender of the village. I just want to protect my family. Father says I have great talent for firebending and my swordmanship skills are improving everyday.

I was finishing my harvesting for the day when the alarm sounded. The Fire Nation was attacking again. I dropped my corn and ran as fast as I could to get back to the village. When I arrived, it was surrounded by troops. They had grappling hooks and ladders to get over our walls. The commander of the unit stood at the front of them. He sat atop his mount and called out, "We are here for the traitor Genkahn. Surrender him and your village will be spared."

I saw father on the top of the wall. "I am Genkahn. Under what authority do you claim you have any authority over me."

"I am Lieutenant Zhao. Under the direct orders of Firelord Ozai, I am here to arrest you for treason and conspiracy against your Nation."

"I am no longer a citizen of the Fire Nation. I have no obligation to follow the Firelord nor does my loyalty belong to him. I am a citizen of the Earth Kingdom. This Village is my home. If you attack my home, I will have no choice but to defend it against you."

The lieutenant known as Zhao turned to his soldiers and cried, "You heard his words, my fellow soldiers. This man is a traitor to the Fire Nation and has relinquished his pride to live in squalor among our enemies. Show no mercy." He threw his hand forward and shouted, "Soldiers of the Fire Nation, attack."

As I watched, the soldiers rushed the walls with their climbing tools. The militia shot arrows over the walls to stop them. Father unleashed fireballs at the soldiers to deter them from the walls as well. Suddenly, the ground in front of the soldiers turned into earth spikes. I knew my mother was behind that.

The Lieutenant sounded a retreat and the soldiers ran out of arrow and fire range. As he turned to leave Zhao cried, "I will be back Genkahn and I will have everything I need to bring you down when I do." He turned his mount and followed after his men.

When the Fire Nation was gone I ran towards the village. Father saw me running and ordered the spikes to be leveled. As they were pushed back down I ran to the vaillage gate. Father was there and he asked me if I was alright. He grabbed me and held me close, his anxiety was apparent to me. Kia ran towards me and joined in the hug.

"My children, when the alarm sounds I need to know you are safe behind our walls. You both are only ten years old. I don't want to go into a fight without knowing you're safe," he said.

"I'm sorry father. I was in the fields helping Getsu and Jitsu with their crops. When the alarm rang I ran back to the village but it was already surrounded by Fire Nation soldiers," I explained.

"I understand son. Tomorrow I will start teaching you more advanced firebending so you can defend yourself against an older opponent. Kia, I will ask the same of your mother. Your earthbending needs more instruction. She can teach you more than any of the Earth Kingdom soldiers that come through here," he declared.

"I understand father," Kia said softly. She was always the soft-spoken one of our family. I guess it came with growing up around three outspoken family members, and her lack of conviction. I worked with her every day on it, sparing her earthbending to my firebending. She has mastered defensive techniques, but offensively she lacks power.

Father let us go and walked to the walls again. He stood in front of the village and gave an inspiring victory speech to the village that roused the blood of all the militia. The village echoed loudly the cries of victory that sounded at the end of his speech. I shouted along with them until Kia grabbed my hand and dragged me away from the crowd.

We walked through the streets till we came to our normal sparring spot in the village. It was our secret place, our sanctuary away from home. Kia let go of my hand and sat down.

I knew the defeated look on her face all too well. "What happened Kia?"

"Nothing," she answered silently.

"Kia you're my sister. You're my twin. I know something is wrong," I insisted.

"I'm not an earthbender." She sighed.

"What are you talking about? You are an earthbender. You wouldn't be able to block my fire with rocks if you weren't."

" I don't have the guts to be an earthbender. I'm not tough like you and mother and father. You all are so great at your bending and fighting and being brave. I'm not brave like you," she said as she started to cry.

"Kia, you don't have to be brave. I'm the sword. You're the shield. Together we can do anything. You don't have to be brave. I'm brave for you."

"I don't want you to have to do that for me. I want to be brave."

"Then you need to practice more. You need more determination. Father says that is the key to all bending. You're an earthbender. You can be you and be an earthbender. You just need more determination."

"But what if I can't do it? What if I fail?"

"You're my twin. I won't fail and neither will you. Together we will be strong," I said holding out my arm for her.

She took my arm and said, "Together then," wiping away her tears.

"Where did this suddenly come from," I asked?

She looked away and started walking away from me. "Kia," I called back. She stopped and said "Lee said I wasn't good enough to be your twin. He told me that I was a terrible earthbender and that I shouldn't even be learning."

I heard these words and my anger boiled over. The air shimmered around me as my firebending heated the air around me. I looked at Kia and said, "You stay here. I'll be back in a few minutes."

I ran through the village, searching for my target. I finally found him playing war with some of the other boys. They saw me and moved out of the way. Lee saw me and said, "So the brother comes do defend the weakling." I loosed a fireball at him and he threw up an earth wall to defend. He shot the wall at me and I jumped to the side to avoid it. I shot more fireballs but he kept blocking them. His counter attacks were getting closer to me. I needed to get closer. I started running towards him, avoiding the earth spires he made to knock me over. I shot another fireball at him and he countered again. I was ready this time and jumped to the top of the earth wall and jumped again, flipping over him and shooting multiple fireballs at him.

I landed and rolled to prevent injury. I looked at Lee and he had used an earth spire to block most of the fire. He was clutching his leg in pain however, which meant something had gotten through his defense. I sent a final large fireball at him to end the fight. He didn't notice it and when he looked up in fear, he couldn't defend against it.

A large sphere of earth rose up and covered him and his friends. I knew he hadn't done it which meant only one thing.

"Ryu, what in the world are you doing," mother shouted. She was furious. She took the earth sphere down and resumed yelling at me. "That was far too much force to be used in a simple street fight. What is wrong with you? You could have killed those boys. If I hadn't arrived when I did you might have. Have you no shame? What would your father say?"

I knew exactly what father would have said. I had gone too far. I needed more control. I let my anger get the better of me.

"What do you have to say for yourself," she asked?

"It was what should have been done. Lee had told Kia that she was worthless and useless and didn't deserve to be a part of our family," I explained. "No one talks to my sister like that with some payback."

Mother looked at my fierce gaze and started laughing. I couldn't understand why, but she was laughing. "You are so much like you're father," she finally said. "Let's go home Ryu." I walked ahead of her and heard her turn and say "Oh and Lee? Next time you insult my daughter in such a way, I won't protect you from my son's wrath. Keep that in mind the next time you let that mouth of yours hang open for too long," she said in a pleasant tone. She resumed walking with me as we headed home.

Ok so it was shorter than I thought it would be but if you review I promise the next chapter will be longer and the fighting more detailed. Oh and if I didn't mention it yet, this story is told from Ryu's POV but occasionally I'll do Kia's.


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